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Jan 6, 2014

Jan 6 is
over and with that the first week of a new year is about to culminate. This is
the time when most of us are planning to draft our new-year resolution while
others might have already started to practise.

Whenever a
fresh year is born, people all over the world plan for a better upcoming future
while recollecting the beauty of the yesteryear. Unfortunately, there is a poor
section of this society who always miss the bus of jubilations. For them a new
year is nothing but a reminder of their ill fate. Every new calendar on their
walls reminds them of their terrifying doom, rubbing salt on their wounds. This
poor section of the society is where I live. The name is Kashmir, the most beautiful
prison on planet, where a new year has an ugly string attached.

Most of the
deadliest massacres have taken place in the first two months of some bloody
years, consuming the lives and dignity of hundreds of innocent Kashmiri people.
Starting from the #SoporeMassacre(6th Jan) to #GowKadalMassacre(20th
Jan) and to the #kunanposhpura mass rape(Feb 23), Kashmir has always been raped
and bruised.

Today let us
remember the #SoporeMassacre. 55 innocent Kashmiri civilians were killed and as
many as 450 buildings were burnt by the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF), in
revenge, after militants ambushed a BSF patrol, in the town of Sopore in
Kashmir on 6 January 1993.

It is widely
alleged that after the killing of the BSF guy, the Indian troops, out of
frustration and anger, fired indiscriminately at local residents and set ablaze
their homes and shops. According to the testimony of the eye witnesses and
major media(local and international minus the apex Indian Media that cooked its
own part of the news), a public coach was also attacked by the troopers that
killed the driver and at least 15 passengers. Even more gruesomely, some residents
are believed to have been were burnt alive by the Indian troops. The
Independent (UK) reports the tribulation as follows:

"The Border Security Forces
sprayed a public coach with machine-gun fire, killing the driver and more than
15 passengers, said witnesses. Three other cars were also fired on, and then
the paramilitary forces set the vehicles ablaze. Next, they began herding the
native Kashmiris into shops and houses, said witnesses. Then the security
forces shot them, splashed paraffin over the bodies and set the buildings
alight."

The Sopore massacre
forced into the open an issue that the Indian government tried to sweep under
the carpet. But due to the widespread publicity of the incident, they couldn't
just sweep it under the rug. Initially they claimed that the high civilian casualties
were only the collateral damage on account of an intense gun battle between the
BSF soldiers and militants. However, the government was later prompted to
initiate a judicial inquiry into the matter that suspended several BSF
officers.

Funnily
enough, two cases stand registered in the matter with Police Station Sopore
which were referred for investigation to CBI Delhi, but as of 2013 the fate of
the cases is unknown to public. The files might have simply been closed and fed
to the office dust. And today sadly those martyrs go unsung.

Following
the massacre there was an immense protest from the local people. Thousands of
Kashmiris defying a government-imposed curfew, protested against the actions of
the BSF soldiers on the streets . The then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao,
ordered state governor Girish Saxena to
visit Sopore and announced a compensation of £2,275 for the relatives of the
deceased. However, this political cream called as compensation could not heal
the wounds that were too deep. And now, on every new year, the wounds just get
more afresh and deep.